My Husband Has Changed - Chapter 156



Only Noblemtl

#156. Flowering
2024.03.04.

Her heart was pounding. Adele tightly held her clammy hands.

She didn’t even need to ask him to repeat himself or explain.

She had an instinctive sense of it. What was he talking about now? In what sense was he saying that they couldn’t go together?

Nevertheless, denial was a habit.

Adele awkwardly raised the corners of her lips. Then she thought she could dismiss all of this as a terrible joke.

“What… … do you mean by that? I… … .”

Her lips, which had been trying to suppress a smile, twisted in despair.

“… … I don’t understand. Why on earth are you suddenly acting like this… … .”

“Adelheid.”

Valentin called her name soothingly. The waves that spread from her open lips permeated the air and seeped into her ears.

Thick, deep. It was the voice she loved.

Up until now, she had secretly felt relieved whenever Valentin communicated with her through voice like humans.

Because ‘will’ had no sound, and that was the very proof that he was a god.

And Valentin had promised her that he would willingly live a human life, not a god’s, for her.

That he would not leave her alone, that he would always be by her side, and that he would try to blend in with the lives of humans… …

“Remember? I promised you that I would give you all the choices in the world someday.”

Adele nodded hurriedly. She felt comforted by the fact that he was speaking for her even when she had been pushed to this point.

Yes. It couldn’t end like this. He couldn’t be this cruel to me.

We had promised each other so much for the future. We had made so many promises.

“Remember. So I don’t want to hear that kind of talk, even as a joke. You have to keep your promise to me. You said you would always be with me.”

“Yes.”

He trailed off and briefly looked at the blonde hair that flowed softly over Adele’s shoulders.

Adele immediately realized what memories he was recalling.

The times when he would occasionally braid her hair himself, the times when he would bury his lips in the strands and feel relieved. Those peaceful nights… … .

“But you are too much to be called human now, and not enough to be called a transcendent being. All I need is a little time.”

Valentin, who had been blankly staring at her hair, suddenly smiled and lowered both his hands.

“So go back with Donovan. Leave this place to me.”

“I can’t do that.”

Adele reached out her hand, trembling, but it bounced off just before it reached him.

A transparent membrane had formed between them. She was immediately enraged by this astonishing situation.

“I never wanted that!”

She clenched her fist and slammed the membrane with all her might, but it only made a very faint ripple.

Valentin reached out his hand as if to dissuade her. But he, too, could not pass through the membrane. The large palm lingered in the air, unable to reach her.

“Please, Adele. If you delay like this, it will only end up putting both of us in danger. I will find a way back.”

Adele immediately realized that he was trying to appease her. Like someone desperate to hide something, and very hastily.

If Valentin had been like usual, he would not have said anything that would arouse her suspicion in the first place.

So, this meant that he was pushed to the limit, unable to even make such trivial calculations.

So what exactly was that limit?

They were physically intact, without a single injury, and the exit they could return to was right in front of them. On the outside, it ‘looked like.’

She reached into her bosom and took out a dagger. She remembered what Valentin had said when he gave her the dagger.

If enough magic was put into it, it could even cut down a god. If that were true, it could even break the deception of a god.

“Adele.”

That was when Valentin’s expression became urgent. He reached out and touched the screen with a surprised face.

Adele ignored him and took the blade out of the scabbard. The blade in her hand looked quite unstable.

“Please don’t do it. You’ll get hurt.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Everything you experience here will directly affect you. A human body can’t withstand it.”

“Then Valentin, you can break it yourself.”

They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment. It was a tense standoff where neither side backed down.

Adele, who could no longer endure this stagnant situation, was about to raise her dagger and rip the screen open at that moment.

“… … Wait.”

Valentin rubbed his tired face with his dry hands. It seemed as if he was making up his mind. Or, barely holding on.

And then he slowly woke up from the illusion he had been wrapped in.

“Ah… … .”

Adele let out a sigh at the sight that was much more gruesome than she had expected.

Black hands, or snakes, or ‘things’ crawling out of his shadow were clinging to Valentin’s entire body in their own shapes. The nape of his neck and shoulders, his cheeks and forehead, his forearms and thighs… … .

He could see that the power he had always used as his limbs was now devouring him.

It was a sight that was terribly repulsive. It was so bizarre, like seeing an animal cutting off its own legs to survive… … . Adele clenched her trembling hands tightly as she shivered.

He muttered an excuse with a blank face.

“Someone interfered with the speed at which the corruption spread. If this had continued, the world would not have been able to endure the time you needed… … .”

Only then did she fully realize what Valentin had done.

He had tried to become a breakwater himself. He had cast a tight net with his soul, and he had tried to hold on to everything so that the corruption would not spread.

Now she understood everything. Why his power had not been restored for so long. Why he

had squandered it all in a matter of days, even when he had been drunk on her as much as he could, and why he had sometimes struggled so much.

Because he had wasted his precious life on such things… … .

“Stop it now.”

Adele placed her hand on his palm, which

was resting on the air. She could not feel his body temperature at all because of the transparent membrane. However, their trembling was clearly transmitted.

His gaze on her was straight, as if it had never wavered even once.

A gasping sob burst out. She could keenly sense the moment his gaze lingered. Her forehead and eyes, her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, the very light freckles scattered across her shoulders… … .

As if trying to imprint each and every one of her features in her mind.

Adele sobbed, her shoulders shaking. Her breath was choked by the curtain.

“I cannot tolerate this. I did not permit it.”

She did not expect it, even as she spoke. It was as if she were shouting at a wall.

If she had been able to stop with just these few words, she would not have let things get this far in the first place.

His body may have been held captive in that distant sanctuary, but his soul had been free until now.

Even if he had lost this body, he could have found another medium with a little more effort.

However, once that soul was completely caught up in corruption, he would not be able to live as either a ‘god’ or a ‘human.’ At best, he would delay the process by a few years.

“I will do something about it. I will shorten the time. I can now manifest my will. You said you would do whatever I want, right?”

“… … .”

“Please. Right now… … .”

It was already too late. The moment he smiled and shook his head helplessly, the hands that had been prowling like snakes’ heads pierced Valentin’s abdomen from behind.

Instead of blood, golden liquid poured down.

She was so surprised that she couldn’t even groan.

Valentin, who was breathing heavily with his brows furrowed in pain, was dragged down by the black things.

She completely lost her senses and slammed the curtain down with her fist.

[No! Don’t do that!]

At that moment, an explosive energy burst out from her small body. At the same time, the movements of the ‘things’ that had been holding Valentin stopped.

Adele was so relieved that ‘things’ had stopped that she didn’t even realize what she had done. She

wasn’t even half in her right mind to realize that she had freely manipulated her will and power, even for a single moment.

‘Those’ shuddered once, then more hands shot out as if in protest to the shrinking, and began to attack him.

[Stop!]

She screamed and slammed the screen with all her might once more.

But this time, nothing changed.

The moment her wandering eyes caught sight of the dagger I was holding, Adele slammed the screen with all her might.

Her palm felt like it was going to tear. Maybe it was already torn. Blood trickled down her fist that was tightly gripping the dagger, dripping onto the floor. The screen was trembling

.

The vibration was transmitted through the blade. It was as if it was screaming silently.

Adele poured all her magical power into the hand holding the sword.

At one point, she felt as if the blade was piercing through something. She brought the sword down and tore the screen apart.

And at that moment. A huge wave spread out. Adele was pushed away and rolled on the floor.

As soon as she came to her senses, she swallowed a groan of pain and hurriedly approached Valentin.

[Valentin!]

The movements of the ‘things’ surrounding Valentin, who had fallen down, became more urgent.
　

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